Comedians get by with a little help from their friends

John Bailey

A FEW years ago nobody had heard of Josh Thomas. Now, you can't open a newspaper or flick on the tube without the tousled hair and fresh face beaming at you. But in Australian comedy, success isn't about being the last man standing. Thomas is just the latest comic to get by with a little help from his friends.

American comic Will Ferrell has called the stand-up game ''hard, lonely and vicious''. Just you, a microphone and a roomful of punters demanding a laugh. An after-show cast party of one with a hotel minibar for consolation.

But scratch the surface of the comedy scene and there's a lot less solitude than the cliche suggests. There's strength in numbers, and the professional, social and even romantic connections between local comics make for a tangled web indeed.

Take the elder statespeople of the comedy circuit - the Working Dog crew's success with The Panel and Thank God You're Here was founded on decades-long relationships that stretched back to university, with the core of the group made up of members of the D-Generation, the '80s comedy troupe whose influence can still be seen in today's comedy scene. That's why faces such as former D-Gen running mates Tony Martin and Mick Molloy are regular guests, while Comedy Company alumni such as Glenn Robbins have hooked up with the comedy juggernaut.

It's the same case in almost every corner of Australian comedy. Josh Thomas's boyfriend is Tom Ballard, host of Triple J's breakfast show.

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Thomas's Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation co-stars include Charlie Pickering and Shaun Micallef. He is the curator of the Brisbane Comedy Festival, which this year featured locals Sammy J, Harley Breen, Josh Earl and Hannah Gadsby. And it is no accident that his live chat shows have featured both Micallef and old mate Melinda Buttle, herself making her comedy festival debut this year.

It's not that Thomas is the most powerful name in comedy. You can link almost any two comedians in or out of the comedy festival in only a few jumps. Brit stand-up Josie Long is buddies with TV funnyman Lawrence Leung, an old uni mate of Andrew McClelland, one of the founders of the Anarchist Guild Social Committee comedy nights along with Celia Pacquola, whose housemate Felicity Ward is friends with comic David Quirk, this year appearing in a show with Sam Simmons, whose old Triple J hosting spot was taken over by Tom Ballard. Whose partner is, as mentioned: Josh Thomas. Deep Breath.

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Putting Thomas at the centre of this game is an arbitrary choice, though. It only proves that comedy is as much about networks and hubs as it is about individuals who stand out from the crowd. That's the implicit thinking behind the increasing range of events and groups that foster these connections. A new generation of whip-smart young female comics has banded together to create collectives such as the Skirt Network and Bang Bang Agency; politically minded comedians are the brains behind the newly formed Political Asylum stand-up nights; gay comics have banded together to present the Talking Poofy show; and the sprawling gang that makes up the Last Tuesday Society seems to have included half the up-and-comers of Melbourne.

Last Tuesday Society co-founder Richard Higgins says the monthly showcase evening grew organically from the benefit shows many acts hold to raise money for interstate and overseas tours. ''It's kind of community based in that everyone helps everyone else do their shows,'' he says.

Like any workplace, sometimes it is just about blowing off steam with your colleagues. Justin Hamilton and Adam Richard regularly get together for ''Lost Wednesday'' and watch new episodes of the US TV series. Then Hamilton's on the blower to Wil Anderson to discuss the show's latest developments, followed by a session on Twitter debating plot points with US political comic Jamie Kilstein.

On a professional level, networking is an essential way of improving a comic's craft. ''There are some people you can run something by and they'll only tell you what's good for them, or they'll just be too positive,'' says Hamilton. ''But you've got a really select few who will be honest.'' Hamilton is among a growing number of comedians to direct or produce younger comics' work. This year he's helping youngster Tommy Dassalo with his solo show.

So if you want to make it in the funny business, it's time to call a friend.

Oh, and that Tommy Dassalo kid? He writes for Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, the show starring Josh Thomas.

Picks of the fest

? Asher Treleaven - Secret DoorMelbourne Town Hall. Until April 18.

The festival's barely out of first gear, and I've already had the biggest laugh of the past several years. He's not for everyone, but if you're willing to take a leisurely scenic ride into the darkest heart of Wrongville, Asher Treleaven is a more than genial chauffeur. He gently guides us from an innocent opening that lifts the bonnet on the lazy wiring of most stand-up gigs to a place where Aussie machismo is given a car-battery jump-start. The detailing - pub punch-ups, gays, oral sex - doesn't sound that far from the terrain often tread by the most conservative of comedians. But the gangly, circus-trained comic soon tips his vehicle on its back and has his audience screeching at what's beneath.

? Melinda Buttle - Sista Got FlowMelbourne Town Hall. Until April 18.

There was a biting moment in Adam Vincent's 2009 comedy festival show where you found yourself laughing at jokes about the disabled - and Vincent pointed out that he's permitted to make them, since working with the disabled is his day job. The same thing occurs when you're cackling at Melinda Buttle's riffs on the delinquent kids she teaches in a disadvantaged Brisbane suburb. She can crack the jokes, but can we laugh at them? Let's hope so, as she's a talent on the rise. Her routines range from rap battles with her filthy-mouthed charges to stories at the expense of her mildly racist dad and sexually conservative mum. Just don't bring the kids.

? The Polar Bearings - Songs In The Sea, Major?Fad Gallery. Until April 7.

If you only see one show about underwater adventures this festival, make it this one. Or Claudia O'Doherty's Monster of the Deep 3D. Watching The Polar Bearings' Stuart Bowden talk into a fish's anus is enough to have you grinning, even if you're not sure why. Bowden plays the slightly maniacal fool to Margaret Paul's straight man (or woman) as she attempts to be the youngest person on crutches to sail around the world. A storm named Denise sends the bickering oceanauts into uncharted waters and an undersea world of nude turtles and erotic gill action. It's puns ahoy throughout and ukulele-assisted ditties regularly interrupt the tall-ish tale.